Game developer Machine Zone may have agreed on some advertising initiatives that it later found out as very expensive and costly to maintain.
While the company is not saying it directly, it seems like tapping supermodel-turned-actress Kate Upton as Athena in “Game of War: Fire Age” and the company’s subsequent massive advertising campaign for the video game including the famous Super Bowl ad, has taken its financial toll on the game developer that now it is planning to raise $500 million funding.
Apparently, the game development company based in Palo Alto in California is seeking to raise $500 million at a multibillion-dollar valuation, according to Venture Beat.
But the recent move of Machine Zone has been met with skepticisms and people now want to know the financial status of the company to determine why it decided to initiate fundraising efforts.
Not looking for new investors
Gabe Leydon, CEO of Machine Zone, responded on a query via e-mail by saying that their company refuses to dignify rumors and speculations about fundraising or valuation by answering or commenting on it. He added that Machine Zone does not need any additional investment and that they are 100% focused on “Game of War: Fire Age.”
Experts believe that if Machine Zone will scale down its very ambitious advertising campaign to just enough or appropriate, the company may no longer require additional funding as latest rumors put it.
This early, many are predicting that Machine Zone will not get its desired new round of investments because deals of such magnitude are quite rare for private game development companies.
One perfect example of buy in investment is the recent acquisition of Japan’s SoftBank of the 23% stake in Supercell, which owns the No. 1 mobile game “Clash of Clans” for $1.2 billion. The sale of the 23% stake in Supercell has raised the value of the company to $5.5 billion despite having only 150 employees and a staggering $1.7 billion worth of revenues in 2014.
Grinding through the scandal
When the infamous ‘The Fappening’ happened in September of last year which was actually the leaking on the internet of nude celebrity photos featuring a bevy of big-name Hollywood actresses, models, and celebrities, Kate Upton was among the victims of the hacking of the stars’ social media accounts.
More than 500 pictures of celebrities who were in their nudes were leaked to the internet with ‘The Fappening’ and that actually included Kate Upton and her boyfriend Justin Verlander, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
Unlike Kate who took everything in stride, Justin disclosed that he actually grinded through it. It was tough for him and he thought that it was part of the price that they have to pay for being famous.
He said that he is just happy that Kate was there for him during those tough times, which he avoids thinking or talking about as much as possible.
While many believe that their relationship is a bit off the chart considering that they are both celebrities and are both earning big money, Justin said that his relationship with Kate is pretty normal.